Everyone’s heard of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth, but the world needs to address more than smokestacks and car exhausts. Below is a list of five areas necessary to build a sustainable world economy:

1. The Green Revolution brought technology to agriculture and ended imminent starvation for millions. Discrepancies in wealth, food distribution, and public policy are continuing barriers to ending world hunger, but a new barrier has emerged – diet. Counter to intuition, the world’s wealth poses the greatest threat to a sustainable food supply. World meat consumption is skyrocketing. Every pound of meat requires approximately seven pounds of grain to produce. Dr. Dean Ornish of UCSF has written and spoken extensively on the shift of the American and world diet and its impact on increasing heart disease, diabetes and obesity. New York Times’ columnist and author Mark Bittman echos this advice in his columns and practice – he limits his meat consumption to one meal a day.

The study of fossils helps in pinpointing the extinction risks faced by ocean animals. Researchers have found a clue through the study of marine fossils ,why some animals of the ocean are more likely to get extinct than others.

An analysis that cumulatively put together fossil data of nearly 500 million years for sea or ocean invertebrates has shown that those that are mostly affected are animals of the ocean whose geographical ranges are small. This, the study reveals affects ocean animals even when their population is large.

The Earth’s surface is 70% water. This implies that any research that is done at sea has more challenges than that done on land because of the difficulties of data collection. This explains why very little is known about the status of conservation of animals of the ocean.

However, by focusing on the study of records of fossils, to understand how ocean animals got extinct in the past, researchers may very well establish how a particular species may behave in the future if the patterns observed in the records of the fossils are maintained. Continue Reading

Posted in General ScienceComments Off on Study of fossils helping pinpoint risks faced by ocean animals

The current rise in hot temperatures witnessed in different parts of the world is signs of global warming getting worse. This is evident with the recent heat waves which have seen different parts of the world receiving extremely high temperatures. Summer seasons in 1950s experienced average temperatures which were neither high nor low. In 1980s, saw a steady increase in temperatures, according to James Hansen, a climatologist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, who together with his co-workers crafted a report in August dubbed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which revealed some glaring facts about the rising warm temperatures. In the report, Hansen declares that since 2000, the simmering temperatures have recorded a sharp increase of average summer season temperatures.

The EOS or the Earth Observing System aims to provide scientists an in-depth knowledge of the Earth’s land surface, oceans, atmosphere and biosphere. Furthermore, this major component of NASA’s Earth Science Division enables humans an understanding of the planet as an integrated system.

The Amazon rainforest is a mystery of many sorts. We’ve heard of the rare and unique flora and fauna of the place, and here’s another intriguing aspect there: the Amazon is self-sufficient in rain as well!

The technique of “cloud seeding” used by rain-starved nations to induce rain is used naturally by the fungi and trees in the Amazon to produce rain. Scientists have discovered that trees and fungi release minute amounts of potassium-rich salt which is the cause of a large amount of rain in the area. Since they deflect light from the sun, it helps in cooling the Earth too.

Normally, water vapour molecules collect around a core to form raindrops. The core can be salt spray, soot, dust, airborne organisms, droplets of chemicals from volcanoes etc. The scientist for atmospheric research studies at the German Max Planck Institute, Christopher Pöhlker says that though their studies Continue Reading

Posted in EnvironmentComments Off on How The Amazon Creates Its Own Rain

Scientists from the University of California in Berkeley have now established that Tropical montane cloud forest trees not only take up water through their roots like other trees but also through their leaves directly from the clouds. Trees growing in arid areas usually find alternative means of survival and this is a classic example of one such strategy in a largely foggy region. However, the after-effect of climate change is beginning to take a toll on these trees because the very clouds they depend on for survival are diminishing.

According to Professor and senior author at the university, Prof. Todd Dawson, the backbone of the study was highlighting the plight of this unique ecosystem brought about by climate change. This study has come up with alarming findings that indicate a decline and in some cases total disappearance of animal life found in the cloud forests. specific examples include salamanders as well as frogs whose population is fast declining. This new study will have its results published in next year’s journal ecology letters but is already accessible this month online. Continue Reading

Posted in Agriculture, EnvironmentComments Off on Research now reveals that cloud forest trees absorb water through leaves

Studies have shown that the rapidly advancing urbanization has a great adverse effect on the sustainability of many species of birds. To determine this possibility in Adirondack Park, a study was conducted and a total of about 20 species of birds both near and far from as many as 30 rural residences in the Adirondack Park were sampled. The results were quite shocking. Major percentage of the human adapted species preferred to reside near the homes than in the mixed dense conifer forests but the human sensitive species were about 26 % less likely to stay near the homes. The same pattern of occupancy rate was observed beyond 200 from the park. Continue Reading

Posted in Research, TechnologyComments Off on Impact of Exurban Residences on Avian Communities

A midst trepidation’s of distraction from the ever-growing problem of global warming that is posing a major threat to the whole world, an important meeting of governments tracking threats to endangered species chose to reject a international ban on polar bear trade on Thursday. The result of this rejection was a division among conservationists with some believing that the threat of extinction of largest carnivorous animals in the world is not only because of loss of habitat but also because of international trade of these animals.

There is enough reason for this panic as polar bears are expected to be in the frontline of those animals that will be disadvantaged because of polar ice caps that are fast melting. However, the spotlight of the raging debate among the 178 CITES member nations held in Bangkok was on the extra danger that was posed to these animals because of international trade. Continue Reading

Posted in Animals, EnvironmentComments Off on Ban On International Polar Bear Trade Rejected

The Durrell Institute of Conservation located at the University of Kent recently published new research on the now extinct Barbary Lion. The new research reveals that the Barbary Lion remained unnoticed for over a decade in its last days of existence. Researcher, assuming its complete extinction, failed to notice the existence of this species. Moreover, the findings of the research reveal that this lion was in existence in North Africa until the 1960’s.

The credibility of this research is buttressed by the facts used by the researchers in coming up with their findings. Dr. Simon Black and Dr. David Roberts were fortunate to stumble on authentic records documenting the lion population. The records reveal the existence of this lion species at North Africa in 1956. The detailed records provide information of the population of the Barbary Lion in the 1920’s and the 1940’s. Museum specimen, hunting records, publications, interviews, and hunting photographs, further supports the accuracy of these records. Continue Reading

Posted in AnimalsComments Off on New Research on the Extinct Barbary Lion

A New Map Reveals That Nesting Spots For Turtles Cut Off By Various Conflicts

Turtle nesting experts today said that conflict has cut off most of the potential nesting spots for turtles and the spots include remotely placed locations as revealed by a new map for turtle nesting spots.

The sea turtles are having it hard as they have already been endangered by activities such as coastal development and fishing and are now in more danger as changes in the climatic conditions are threatening their reproduction. This is because the turtles need very special conditions to be able to reproduce and small alterations in the moisture and heat level are enough to prevent their eggs from hatching. Researchers say that it is now very important for the sea turtles to be able to know where conditions are optimum for them to lay eggs as the current global warming has made popular nesting spots useless due to the fact that they are either too hot or dry for use. The availability of some nesting spots that have the necessary conditions for the turtles to nest would be an ideal start show how global warming changes habitats. Continue Reading

Organizations and nations all over the world strive to improve and sustain productivity due to its profound impact; it leads to more income and high growth rate. There are forces that drive improved productivity and they can be grouped into two broad categories as explained below.

Internal motivation.

External motivation.

Internal motivation

These forces can be further categorized into two:

Individual internal motivation

Some people are naturally more ambitious than others and tend to be more productive. These people are self-driven and seek more work and responsibility. Individual internal motivation is determined by an individual’s background, culture and personal beliefs.

This internal motivation can be increased by setting personal goals and adapting a positive attitude towards work. Viewing work as a responsibility and not merely work to be done increase ones commitment while personal goals act as the internal drive which ultimately improve productivity.

Posted in Business, FinanceComments Off on The Forces That Drive Improved Productivity

Infectious animal diseases are caused by agents, such as a virus or bacteria, which penetrate the body and disrupt its natural defense mechanism. Noninfectious diseases, on the other hand, are caused by factors such as diet, environment, emotional distress, injury, and some heredity conditions.

When it comes to grooming, such as brushing, clipping and bathing, it is not just about keeping your loving companion looking beautiful, it is also about keeping your dog physiologically and psychologically healthy and offering it an extra chance to bond with you. A grooming ritual should include bathing, ear cleaning, as well as coat, nail and teeth maintenance.

Children like to be challenged

If you want to find educational toys that your youngsters will take pleasure in enjoying with, the most effective factor to do is have them check it out.

Monitoring Software

The Internet can be tricky for parents to deal with because kids often need to use the Internet for school, but parents parents are often worried about the various activities that their children might be engaged in. Peer-to-peer file sharing can lead to lawsuits and even a criminal prosecution. Some teens might engage in activities online that are embarrassing to the family or may lead to viruses or hackers accessing the computer. Fortunately, there are various forms of monitoring software that can offer parental control.

Monitoring software can also be very helpful when parents are trying to learn what their children are up to, such as whether they are attending class or doing their homework.

Many teens use the computer purchased specifically for schoolwork to play computer games or chat with friends. Monitoring software can not only record activities on the computer, but smartphone software such as Mobile Spy can silently record the teen's GPS information, text messages and phone call information.

Monitoring software sits silently on a computer or mobile device and monitors all of the activities carried out on the device, encouraging the teen to consistently use the device for communication. Activity is usually uploaded to an online account so that the parent can monitor activity from anywhere without having to get close to the phone. This is crucial since parents will usually not have physical access to the phone without arousing suspicion.

Many monitoring programs also come with keystroke loggers, which log keys recorded on the computer, a contextual blocker, and features that allow parents to block certain websites. All of these features allow parents to have a peace of mind when allowing their teens to use the Internet.